Insidious: Chapter 2

The scariest part is knowing you paid to see this ludicrous sequel

By Diana Beechener

Picking up where the last film ended, Insidious: Chapter 2 begins with the return of the Lamberts’ son Dalton (Ty Simpkins: Insidious) from The Further, a spirit realm filled with evil ghosts and demons. It’s great that Dalton is back in this Earthly realm, but a price was exacted for his return: A malevolent spirit has possessed Dalton’s dad, Josh (Patrick Wilson: The Conjuring), causing him to strangle the family’s psychic aide Elise (Lin Shaye: Crazy Kind of Love). The demon abandons Josh, leaving the Lambert
family ghost-free, but with a dead body in their living room.
Don’t you hate when that happens?
Luckily for the Lamberts, the police called to get rid of the body don’t seem to care about finding the murderer or locking up Josh. With no sign of those pesky spirits, no criminal charges and no need to visit The Further again, the Lamberts seek a fresh start. They leave yet another haunted house and move in with Josh’s mother. The only problem? The house wasn’t drawing the evil spirits. The Lamberts were.
Not-so-friendly ghosts return. They harass harried mom Renai (Rose Byrne: The Turning), who squeals helplessly. They spook Dalton and threaten to take the youngest Lambert, baby Kali.
The family tries to ignore the ghosts, hoping the evil otherworldly entities will get bored with haunting and perhaps take up Sudoku. Unfortunately for the Lamberts, these haunts are committed to making their lives hell.
To make matters worse, Josh is apparently no longer possession-free. He spits out bloody teeth, has heated arguments with no one in particular and looms in doorways like a suburban version of Jason Vorhees. To stop the haunting, the family must delve into Josh’s past and find the source of their ghostly troubles.
This sequel to the mildly chilling Insidious is a nonsensical film that offers poor writing and ridiculous plotting in place of genuine scares. Sure, there are jump scenes (loud noises and suddenly appearing entities), but they play on the reflexes and not the psyche. Insidious: Chapter 2 isn’t the type of film to make you lock the doors and check under the bed; it’s the type of film you forget about as soon as the credits role.
The problem with the sequels to successful horror movies is logic. How many bad things could possibly happen to the same characters? Much like the Paranormal Activity films, the Insidious franchise started off with a decent idea that gets progressively more ludicrous with each installment. This weekend’s box office success ensures that you’ll be seeing more hauntings from The Further.
Don’t feed the beast. Instead, see Wan’s much more sophisticated haunted-house yarn, The Conjuring.